Regina Municipal Councilor S Question About Indigenous People Who Allegedly Want To Be Homeless Sparks Outrage

The question arose during the discussion of a proposal aimed at ending homelessness in Regina. Shaw’s question to Sheila Wignes-Paton of the Phoenix Residential Society during last Wednesday’s City Council meeting included an anecdote about a Regina Treaty / Status Indian Services (RT / SIS) native with whom Shaw had spoken. Shaw said she was told there were people in indigenous culture who did not want homes. “Can you face it and talk about it please? Because until I heard it from her, I had no idea there were such people, and I guess there is, and you know it?” asked So. Wignes-Paton responded: “I think it may be the culture of the settlers that imposes something on the indigenous community and some may choose not to have a home of their own. It is more comfortable to live with different people. [and] I’m moving so I can see this happening. “ Shiela Wignes-Patron answered Shaw’s question by saying that some people may feel comfortable moving around and not want a home on their own. (City of Regina / YouTube) Wignes-Paton went on to say that the majority of the people Phoenix Residential works with in its domestic work are indigenous and that everyone’s individual wishes are respected. Shaw then followed. “That just confirms what he said, that there will always be people who are homeless in indigenous culture because of what they prefer, through the mayor, right?” asked So. “Yes, I would say it would,” Wignes-Patron replied. Later in the meeting, Kale MacLellan presented her support for the proposal to end homelessness. At the end of her presentation she spoke directly to counselor Shaw. “No, there are no people who want to be homeless. Everyone wants a place to call home. Some people choose to travel, just like people who choose to spend the winter in Arizona or Florida,” MacLellan said. “Framing homelessness as an option is a strange view. No one chooses to be homeless. No one chooses to be insecure.” Kale MacLellan says Shaw’s remarks could be detrimental to Indigenous people experiencing homelessness. (Richard Agecoutay / CBC News) Section 6 Coun. Daniel LeBlanc asked MacLellan if she was a native and if she was familiar with Plains native traditions. “I’m a native, so I’m probably the right person to ask that question, not another white lady,” MacLellan said. In an interview with CBC, Counselor Shaw said that when she asked Wignes-Patron, she did not “really” look at the color of her skin. “I asked her since it had to do with the house first,” Shaw said. “She seemed to be somewhat experienced in this, as she had been dealing with this type of housing for many years.” Shaw went on to say that there are people – not just natives – who may not want housing. “I have worked with people [from] “All the different kinds of people who do not always want a house, they want to be homeless, they want to be the gypsies of the world,” he said, using a national label that is widely considered offensive and historically inaccurate, “and that’s okay.” Shaw said the question came from the bottom of her heart and was triggered by information from an indigenous community leader. “We were told that not everyone wants a house, that in indigenous culture, there are people called Wanderers,” he said. “My question was, if this is true, something that is supposed to be true, then we need to find a place where we can meet people in their needs and where they want.” He said he asked the question because he wanted to be addressed in the council. “We as councilors and mayors are not the experts, the people out there, the nonprofits, the people who lead it and do this work every day are the experts.” Shaw said she did not mean evil and feels that no apology is required. “Once I asked a question, I wanted clarification and help to understand.”

Answer from the lawyers

MacLellan, a community organizer and student, told CBC in an interview that Shaw’s comments were “an interesting way to address homelessness.” “I do not know of any teaching for people who repeatedly choose to be homeless,” he said. “It’s really frustrating to hear this rhetoric being repeated by Coun. Shaw because it’s a point of view of one person and not of the countless other natives who told her that people need homes and people want homes now.” MacLellan said such comments could hurt Indigenous people experiencing homelessness. “If people think this is not a problem or that they are just people who choose to be homeless, it will be much harder for people who want to find a secure life,” he said. “I think it’s a very easy way for city officials to take responsibility.” The Federation of Indigenous Peoples (FSIN) issued a statement Wednesday asking Shaw to be educated in the true history of Canada. “Without a sincere understanding, reconciliation is impossible,” the statement said. He said it was disturbing that an elected official in the territory of Treaty 4 perpetuated “such racist and uneducated views”. “The people of the First Nations have been beaten and crushed by this system over and over again, and it just goes on with statements like this,” the statement continued. “Colonization is the reason why the people of the First Nations live without homes.” “No one chooses to be homeless.” Indigenous homelessness lawyer Shylo Stevenson appeared at Wednesday’s City Council meeting and was present at Shaw’s question. In an interview with CBC, he said that Shaw’s statements shocked him. “It struck me,” he said. “We were told to calm down because we just spent the night.” Stevenson said he wished the question had been addressed to an indigenous person with cultural experience in the field. “The person who asked was not the right way.” Stevenson said he has not been taught about people who do not want to own a home. “Maybe he misinterpreted what he shared with her, I do not know, but we are nomadic people,” he said. “We travel, we travel, but in no case have I met anyone who wants to be homeless.” Shylo Stevenson says Shaw’s remarks were shocking. (Richard Agecoutay / CBC News) Stevenson said Shaw’s comments were disappointing, as they could potentially add to the stigma surrounding the Indigenous homelessness. “This has just been fed up and being recognized that way at a city council meeting is just another slap in the face to indigenous culture.”

Coun. LeBlanc says the talks should not “arm” the settlers

LeBlanc said in an interview with CBC that while he does not claim to know everything about Indigenous people, there are general misconceptions about the homeless. He said the ideas for some people who want to stay homeless “are largely exaggerated”. LeBlanc, who made the original proposal, said that even though few people feel that way, there are still hundreds who want housing and cannot afford it. He said he knew Shaw had heard this information from a “highly respected indigenous leader in the city”, but that this leader was not in the room during the council meeting. “I would say that any internal conversations the indigenous community may have are not for the settlers to use this knowledge that they could share with them, or in some way to arm that knowledge,” he said. LeBlanc said the city has often made the common mistake of believing that reconciliation should be guided by settlers. “[People think] “Reconciliation must always be comfortable for the settlers and I think that is also a racist case.” “I’m not saying councilor Shaw is doing it. I’m saying that I, and we as a city, have done it historically and it ‘s time to make some awkward but necessary reconciliation.”

title: “Regina Municipal Councilor S Question About Indigenous People Who Allegedly Want To Be Homeless Sparks Outrage " ShowToc: true date: “2022-11-17” author: “Collette Duenas”

The question arose during the discussion of a proposal aimed at ending homelessness in Regina. Shaw’s question to Sheila Wignes-Paton of the Phoenix Residential Society during last Wednesday’s City Council meeting included an anecdote about a Regina Treaty / Status Indian Services (RT / SIS) native with whom Shaw had spoken. Shaw said she was told there were people in indigenous culture who did not want homes. “Can you face it and talk about it please? Because until I heard it from her, I had no idea there were such people, and I guess there is, and you know it?” asked So. Wignes-Paton responded: “I think it may be the culture of the settlers that imposes something on the indigenous community and some may choose not to have a home of their own. It is more comfortable to live with different people. [and] I’m moving so I can see this happening. “ Shiela Wignes-Patron answered Shaw’s question by saying that some people may feel comfortable moving around and not want a home on their own. (City of Regina / YouTube) Wignes-Paton went on to say that the majority of the people Phoenix Residential works with in its domestic work are indigenous and that everyone’s individual wishes are respected. Shaw then followed. “That just confirms what he said, that there will always be people who are homeless in indigenous culture because of what they prefer, through the mayor, right?” asked So. “Yes, I would say it would,” Wignes-Patron replied. Later in the meeting, Kale MacLellan presented her support for the proposal to end homelessness. At the end of her presentation she spoke directly to counselor Shaw. “No, there are no people who want to be homeless. Everyone wants a place to call home. Some people choose to travel, just like people who choose to spend the winter in Arizona or Florida,” MacLellan said. “Framing homelessness as an option is a strange view. No one chooses to be homeless. No one chooses to be insecure.” Kale MacLellan says Shaw’s remarks could be detrimental to Indigenous people experiencing homelessness. (Richard Agecoutay / CBC News) Section 6 Coun. Daniel LeBlanc asked MacLellan if she was a native and if she was familiar with Plains native traditions. “I’m a native, so I’m probably the right person to ask that question, not another white lady,” MacLellan said. In an interview with CBC, Counselor Shaw said that when she asked Wignes-Patron, she did not “really” look at the color of her skin. “I asked her since it had to do with the house first,” Shaw said. “She seemed to be somewhat experienced in this, as she had been dealing with this type of housing for many years.” Shaw went on to say that there are people – not just natives – who may not want housing. “I have worked with people [from] “All the different kinds of people who do not always want a house, they want to be homeless, they want to be the gypsies of the world,” he said, using a national label that is widely considered offensive and historically inaccurate, “and that’s okay.” Shaw said the question came from the bottom of her heart and was triggered by information from an indigenous community leader. “We were told that not everyone wants a house, that in indigenous culture, there are people called Wanderers,” he said. “My question was, if this is true, something that is supposed to be true, then we need to find a place where we can meet people in their needs and where they want.” He said he asked the question because he wanted to be addressed in the council. “We as councilors and mayors are not the experts, the people out there, the nonprofits, the people who lead it and do this work every day are the experts.” Shaw said she did not mean evil and feels that no apology is required. “Once I asked a question, I wanted clarification and help to understand.”

Answer from the lawyers

MacLellan, a community organizer and student, told CBC in an interview that Shaw’s comments were “an interesting way to address homelessness.” “I do not know of any teaching for people who repeatedly choose to be homeless,” he said. “It’s really frustrating to hear this rhetoric being repeated by Coun. Shaw because it’s a point of view of one person and not of the countless other natives who told her that people need homes and people want homes now.” MacLellan said such comments could hurt Indigenous people experiencing homelessness. “If people think this is not a problem or that they are just people who choose to be homeless, it will be much harder for people who want to find a secure life,” he said. “I think it’s a very easy way for city officials to take responsibility.” The Federation of Indigenous Peoples (FSIN) issued a statement Wednesday asking Shaw to be educated in the true history of Canada. “Without a sincere understanding, reconciliation is impossible,” the statement said. He said it was disturbing that an elected official in the territory of Treaty 4 perpetuated “such racist and uneducated views”. “The people of the First Nations have been beaten and crushed by this system over and over again, and it just goes on with statements like this,” the statement continued. “Colonization is the reason why the people of the First Nations live without homes.” “No one chooses to be homeless.” Indigenous homelessness lawyer Shylo Stevenson appeared at Wednesday’s City Council meeting and was present at Shaw’s question. In an interview with CBC, he said that Shaw’s statements shocked him. “It struck me,” he said. “We were told to calm down because we just spent the night.” Stevenson said he wished the question had been addressed to an indigenous person with cultural experience in the field. “The person who asked was not the right way.” Stevenson said he has not been taught about people who do not want to own a home. “Maybe he misinterpreted what he shared with her, I do not know, but we are nomadic people,” he said. “We travel, we travel, but in no case have I met anyone who wants to be homeless.” Shylo Stevenson says Shaw’s remarks were shocking. (Richard Agecoutay / CBC News) Stevenson said Shaw’s comments were disappointing, as they could potentially add to the stigma surrounding the Indigenous homelessness. “This has just been fed up and being recognized that way at a city council meeting is just another slap in the face to indigenous culture.”

Coun. LeBlanc says the talks should not “arm” the settlers

LeBlanc said in an interview with CBC that while he does not claim to know everything about Indigenous people, there are general misconceptions about the homeless. He said the ideas for some people who want to stay homeless “are largely exaggerated”. LeBlanc, who made the original proposal, said that even though few people feel that way, there are still hundreds who want housing and cannot afford it. He said he knew Shaw had heard this information from a “highly respected indigenous leader in the city”, but that this leader was not in the room during the council meeting. “I would say that any internal conversations the indigenous community may have are not for the settlers to use this knowledge that they could share with them, or in some way to arm that knowledge,” he said. LeBlanc said the city has often made the common mistake of believing that reconciliation should be guided by settlers. “[People think] “Reconciliation must always be comfortable for the settlers and I think that is also a racist case.” “I’m not saying councilor Shaw is doing it. I’m saying that I, and we as a city, have done it historically and it ‘s time to make some awkward but necessary reconciliation.”